Echo
by Beauty Fails
Summary: She awakes in the dead of night, shrouded in the forest as so many before. She is the key, the only one that can stop the future from unraveling and the past from repeating. She's just an echo of the past, but she's our only hope.
1. Chapter 1

The moon hangs in the air, bright and bloated.  
A full moon.

For a second, I am mesmerized. I gaze up at the darkened sky, illuminated only by the glowing moon, and feel entirely at peace. After a few moments though, I regain my bearings. Trees loom over me and a carpet of leaves guard me from the cool ground. A faint hoot or shuffle in the darkness is the only sign of life. Fear chokes in my throat as I begin to comprehend that I am completely alone. The scary thing isn't that I know, it's not knowing.

Then I hear something, or rather I sense the movement before actually hearing it. It's the faint shuffle and thud of a distinctly human gait. It's what finally gets me moving. I shoot up from the ground, springing up onto my toes and gazing into the forest with wide-eyed fear. I am actually ashamed of how afraid I am, staring into the darkness as if I can see right through it to all the terror it holds. The sound ceases, and I don't even realize how closely I am listening until it is no longer there. I do not have to wait long though, because my tuned ears catch the sound as soon as it begins again, but this time it's different. It is the loping gait of a running animal, and it's growing closer.

Soon after the animal takes off, I can hear shouts in the distance. A male voice breaks through my panicked silence, his voice stands out from all the others. It's only feet away from me. He yells again, and this time I can make out what he's saying.

"Scott! Did you find it Scott? God, you coulda said something before you went all wolf-y on us!" His words are puzzling, and his tone is both frightened and somewhat excited. As I focus in on the animal and the boy's movements, I can hear other's growing closer. Unlike him, they whisper in hushed tones, only a senseless mumble to my untrained ears. I strain, attempting to hear them, but I realize to late that they're not the ones I should be listening to.

"Scott?" I whip around as his voice sounds again, only inches away. My first instinct is to run, to go as far away from this stranger as I possibly can; but I find my self unable to move an inch. He's beautiful. His hair is a tousled brown mess, his soft brown eyes gazing curiously and his lip parted in shock. He takes a step closer, his whole body moving; arms swinging, head tilting, but his eyes are trained intently on me. A few tense seconds pass with me remaining in my shocked stillness.

"You're not Scott." He now regards me with mild interest and a mischievous smile. I get the impression that he's trying to make me feel comfortable, to convince me that he's totally at ease; but I can see the way his eyes dart around the trees at every sound. "If you were, you'd have a lot of explaining to do." I have an odd desire to laugh, but it catches in my throat and I only swallow nervously. Most of my earlier panic has faded, but I am still scared and extremely nervous. I have the feeling that right now is a make it or break it moment, a once in a lifetime chance. This only manages to frighten me more.

"Stiles?" I should have payed more attention to the other voices, but I have been so preoccupied with this mystery boy. A girl steps out from the shadowed treeline, making a beeline for him. For a moment, a flash of discomfort crosses his face, but he recovers quickly, flashing a large smile. I can feel her eyes on me, but I determinedly avert my eyes. She throws her self into his arms and I have to bite back a stab of jealousy.

"Who's the little girl?" Her voice is like sandpaper grating over my nerves and I can't hold myself back from snapping at her.

"Who are you talking about...bitch." I want to hit myself over the head for acting so ignorant and using a lame insult like that. Instead, I bring myself up to my full height-almost exactly as tall as her-and finally look her right in the eyes. She seething-not even attempting to mask it-, but she looks gorgeous even though her expression is murderous.

"Well, on that happy note, I think we should get all our other murderous little...friends." He regards me with an expression that I can't decipher. I look away, put out by his dismissal of me. Disappointment courses through me.

"Well..I'll ju-"

"Nope. Look, I think, you think, I don't know why you're here. Actually you're thinking the wrong thinking because we're here because we think like you think and you should join us because we...think...similarly?" He rushes through the words and after a few seconds, I still have no idea what he's talking about.

"What?" The girl questions before I have a chance to. She's staring at him like he's crazy, but he just continues looking at me, assuming that I understand. I shake my head, signalling that I also have no idea what in the world he's saying.

"Wouldn't it just be easier to drag her? If this is Lydia's girl, she won't be alive for very long." Again she startles me by speaking.

"God, Malia, feelin' really cheerful today aren't we?" So the girl's name is Malia. I hate her already.

"I'll just..um, walk." I'm growing tired of their banter and just tired in general. Malia looks slightly disappointed, but follows as the boy starts to lead us into the dark cover of the trees.

"Okay, so this is Malia." He gestures toward her, confirming my suspicions. "And I'm Stiles. Now, me, I'm kinda interested in a crazy girl wandering around in the woods. We all know Beacon's got a lot of those. So, what's you're name?" He glances back at me with a joking, yet serious expression.

"I don't know." Is the only response I can produce.


	2. Chapter 2

She looks so scared-more by Malia than me-and I have no idea what to do. Usually Scott handles the emotionally damaged, or Lydia finds them-sort of. As we shuffle towards civilization, I can't help the question running through my mind. Why has Lydia...bansheed...this girl? This perfectly healthy, totally living, girl? As if she has read my thoughts, Malia leans forward to my ear.

"Stop staring." Her voice is harsh and venomous and I am so shocked that it takes me a few seconds to retaliate. I'm not used to Malia being so rude to me. Usually, I'm the only one to get any humanity out of her, now she glances between me and the girl like she could murder both of us.

"Trust me, if I was staring, you'd know." My voice almost matches her level of venom, and I can see she's taken aback. She is only suprized for a few moments, before she narrows her eyes at me and all but growls. She's opening her mouth to make another retort, her teeth bared like she's going to rip a hole in me-and I don't doubt she can-when a small voice startles us both.

"I'm..cold." Her voice is almost as low as Malia's was, but her's has a broken edge to it. Finally, it hits me why Malia is being so defensive, the girl is covered only with the few leaves that have managed to pattern her pale skin. She crosses her arms over her chest, conscious of my shocked stare.

"Oh..um..sorry!" I manage to stutter, aware of both Malia's vicious stare and her doe eyed expression. "Um..here?" I shrug off my jacket, the bitter of the cold air shocking me through my thin t-shirt. She shrugs it on slowly, and I catch her glancing fearfully at Malia. For some reason, this makes me angry.

"Malia. Stop." My voice has risen to a steady tone, and Malia attempts to look un-surprised as I snap at her, but fails. "Remember when we found you? Hmm? Guess your little 8-year-old jacket didn't fit, did it?"

"Shut. Up. Stiles." Anger. Briefly her eyes flash blue, but her eyes widen and she returns to normal in a split second. I can tell she's disappointed, still unable to control her changing. All the fight leaves her, and I take this as a sign that I've won. I smile tightly and, after a little indecision, lay my arm around no-name's shoulders and lead her away. Her expression shows she's scared out of her mind and all I want to do is tell her that everything's okay, that she'll wake up soon, safe and sound. I almost want to leave her in the woods, to guard her from all the murder and horror that awaits her with my friends, with me.

"I'm sorry." My voice is barely loud enough to be called a whisper, but by her shuddering breath, I can tell she's heard. Somehow, she seems calmer though. She leans into me, and I try to pass it of as the cold, but I'm lying to myself. I can hear Malia's shuffling steps behind us, but I don't care anymore.

So lost in my own world, I don't hear him approach. I do, however, hear Malia throw a venomous remark at him.

"Stiles! Bro, what'd yo-?" Scott steps in front of us, stopping us short. He doesn't look shocked when he see's her, he only smiles warily. "Hey. I'm Scott." Scott usually can communicate pretty well with the damaged victims, but she looks at me instead. Her eyes seem to be questioning if he's safe, she is attempting to avoid another Malia moment. I nod and we both look back up at him. His expression is indecipherable, but has noticeably changed during our little moment.

"Hi." She smiles vaguely and holds out her hand, surprisingly polite for a stranger found in the woods, but Scott's been there and he's pretty alright. We've all been there. My thoughts automatically flip to Lydia, and I have to shake my head to keep from thinking of her. It's a habit I've been trying to break.

"What' your name?" Scott asks softly.

"I'm not a two-year-old!" She shouts suddenly, glancing up at me and then baring her teeth as Malia had only moments before. So she had noticed our little argument. For a second, it is as if she's trying to imitate Malia, but I discard the thought as soon as it occurs to me.

"Of course not." Scott nods at her, his expression somewhat uneasy. I think she notices, because she hangs her head, abandoning her brief, tough girl moment.

"I don't know." She admits, obviously ashamed. Again, Scott doesn't seem shocked at all. Still, she hugs tighter onto my side, using me as a human shield. Scott looks at me hopelessly, and I open my mouth to speak, but I feel her lips on my ear.

"Where's Derek?" She whispers quietly. Scott looks at me with a wide-eyed shocked expression that mirrors mine, and I know he's heard.


End file.
